The meeting was originally planned for September in Baghdad, where the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) was founded back in 1960 during an oil conference. "I am sincerely disappointed that I will not be able to host the 60th anniversary of OPEC after months of preparation for this historic event," Iraqi Oil Minister Ihsan Abdul Jabbar Ismaael wrote to OPEC Secretary General Mohammad Barkindo. The minister stressed that "health and safety is now more important than anything else." Barkindo replied that he "looks forward to meeting with all OPEC countries in the near future."
OPEC was founded in September 1960 at an oil conference in Baghdad by five states - Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. Later, other countries joined them. OPEC accounts for a third of all world oil production. Since 2017, OPEC has been working with Russia and a number of other countries to regulate oil production under an agreement known as OPEC+. The agreement helps avoid oversupply and oil price volatility.
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